Annual concert celebrates music of the great John Coltrane

By Ed Symkus, Correspondent

Wednesday

Dec 12, 2018 at 3:05 PM

Tenor and soprano saxophonist John Coltrane died at the age of 40 in 1967, but his name and his music remain in the upper echelons of jazz, ranging in styles from ballads to bop, from mainstream to modal. Each year, since 1977, a decade after his passing, and in celebration of his legacy, Boston has been the home of the John Coltrane Memorial Concert (the sponsoring organization is now called the Friends of John Coltrane Memorial Concert).

This year’s 41st edition, titled “My Favorite Things,” is set for Dec. 15 at Northeastern University’s Blackman Auditorium, and will feature the all-star 14-piece JCMC Ensemble performing, among other Trane-related pieces, “My Favorite Things,” “Afro Blue,” “Like Sonny,” and “Greensleeves.” Along with the music, the program will honor the musical contributions of legendary Boston-based reedmen Stan Strickland and Bill Pierce. The show will be hosted, for the umpteenth time, by longtime WGBH jazz broadcaster and fount of jazz history Eric Jackson, who began his radio career at Boston University’s WTBU in 1969, and did his first “Eric in the Evening on WGBH in 1981 (with additional gigs at WBUR, WHRB, WILD, and WBCN before that).

Reached by phone at his Randolph home, Jackson said he’s been connected to the Coltrane concerts since the late-1980s, when his friend and one of the event’s co-founders, saxophonist Leonard Brown, asked if he’d like to be involved, but isn’t sure of the exact first date, and has only missed two of them in that time.

He’s certainly the right guy to be hosting a show on John Coltrane because he sure knows his Coltrane. Jackson, following in the footsteps of his radio announcer father Sam Jackson, grew up in Camden, New Jersey, in a home where his dad’s love of jazz was made clear by what he regularly put on the turntable.

“He was definitely a swing guy,” said Jackson. “Duke Ellington was number one in the house. He wasn’t really a bopper, though when I was 14, he took me to see [jazz singer] Johnny Hartman in Philadelphia, and on the way there we stopped and picked up the ‘John Coltrane and Johnny Hartman’ album, and we got Johnny to autograph it. He was also in one of those record of the month clubs and he got the ‘Coltrane Live at Birdland’ album. I remember listening to ‘Afro Blue’ on that record and thinking, ‘Wow, this is really different!’ And that was a good thing.

“Because of that music always being on in the house,” he added, “I was comfortable with it, and at some point, I started turning on the radio and listening to jazz on my own.”

Jackson has also been an educator for a number of years, formerly at Longy School of Music, and now at Northeastern, where his popular class is “The African-American Experience Through Music.”

His appreciation for, love of, and knowledge about what Coltrane has given to the world all shine through when asked to explain the different phases of jazz that he went through.

“There was a period where he played a number of ballads,” he said. “The story is that he wasn’t happy with his reed, so there was a time when he was playing more relaxed things, while he was searching for the right reed. I think that’s when his musical direction and concepts began to change. When we look back at, say, his album ‘Giant Steps,’ he was dealing with a hard bop concept, with loads of chord changes. But at that same time, he was also a member of Miles Davis’ band, and within days of Coltrane recording ‘Giant Steps,’ they recorded Miles’ ‘Kind of Blue,’ and on that record Miles was dealing with what they call modal music. Shortly after that, Coltrane also began to deal with modal music, such as ‘My Favorite Things.’ So, that’s one direction where the music changed. At another period he began to show an interest in folk forms, like the spiritual ‘Dear Old Stockholm.’ He also began dealing with other cultures, and I think that’s what eventually began to lead him away from some of the more traditionally accepted musical concepts.”

But, asked a much simpler question: What exactly will you be doing at the Coltrane Memorial show, Jackson admitted that he’s never quite sure what’s in store for him when he hits the stage.

“There have been times when I’ve walked in the door and someone says, ‘We want you to recite this poem’,” he said, laughing. “And I’ll just say, ‘OK!’ ”

Art Garfunkel sings songs and tells stories as part of his “In Close-Up” show at City Winery in Boston. (Also Dec. 18, 8 p.m. both dates)

Dec. 19:

The Danny Harrington/John Baboian Quartet will celebrate “A Jazzy Christmas” at the Mosesian Center for the Arts in Watertown. (7:30 p.m.)

Self-proclaimed Mexican-American band Los Lobos rocks out over two nights at City Winery in Boston. (Also Dec. 20, 8 p.m. both dates)

Dec. 21:

Aine Minogue brings a taste of traditional Irish music to Club Passim in Cambridge. (7 p.m.)

The Weisstronauts (with musical guests) celebrate the season with their 20th annual Holiday Jubilee – and add some vocals to their usually instrumental songs – at the Lizard Lounge in Cambridge. (9 p.m.)